Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas | |
|---|---|
 Kapsukasc. 1918 | |
| 1st Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of theLithuanian–Byelorussian SSR | |
| In office 27 February 1919 – 19 July 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| 1st Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of theLithuanian SSR | |
| In office 8 December 1918 – 27 February 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1880-04-07)7 April 1880 |
| Died | 17 February 1935(1935-02-17) (aged 54) |
| Resting place | Novodevichy Cemetery |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
| Political party | Lithuanian Social Democratic Party(1903–1917) Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)(1917–1935) |
| Alma mater | University of Bern |
Vincas Mickevičius, known under his pen nameKapsukas (7 April [O.S. 23 March] 1880 – 17 February 1935), was a Lithuaniancommunistpolitical activist,publicist, andrevolutionary.
As an active member of theLithuanian National Revival, he wrote for and edited many Lithuanian publications and joined theLithuanian Social Democratic Party. As his views turned from nationalism tosocialism, and then to communism, he became one of the founders and leaders of theLithuanian Communist Party and headed the short-livedLithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic andLithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbel) in 1918–1919. After the fall of these republics, Mickevičius left forSoviet Russia, where he continued to lead the Lithuanian communists and worked for theCommunist International (Comintern).
Mickevičius was born in 1880 in the town ofVilkaviškis,Vilkaviškis district, to a family of wealthy Lithuanian farmers.Suvalkija was then inCongress Poland, part of theRussian Empire. Following theJanuary Uprising of 1863, the tsarist government imposed theLithuanian press ban, which outlawed materials printed in the Lithuanian language. Vincas' father Simonas and elder brother Juozas were Lithuanian patriots. His uncle Antanas Mickevičius wasdaraktorius, a founder of and a teacher at underground Lithuanian schools.[1][2] Vincas Mickevičius was exposed to old illegal issues ofAuszra monthly magazine, hidden in the family home, from an early age.
Around 1888–1892, he was tutored at home and attended a Lithuanian school run by his uncle. From 1892 to 1897, Mickevičius studied atMarijampolė Gymnasium. In 1895, he became an active participant in theLithuanian National Revival when his brother Juozas introduced him to the secretbook smuggling societySietynas, a group that printed Lithuanian books and periodicals inEast Prussia, smuggled them and disseminated them into Lithuania. After graduating from the Gymnasium in 1897, Mickevičius enrolled at theSejny Priest Seminary, but was expelled after a year for his illegal political activities. He was a member of the secret Lithuanian Clerical Society and participated in the dissemination of illegal Lithuanian press.[1]
Around 1898–1899, Mickevičius tutored atSakalai, a Lithuanian school run byPovilas Višinskis.[1] Since 1888, he was an active Varpininkas – a member of the patriotic organization, named afterVarpas newspaper, aimed at raising Lithuanian consciousness and promoting education, and the Lithuanian language and culture. Mickevičius was contributing toVarpas andŪkininkas. Mickevičius chose the pen name Kapsukas, a diminutive version of Vincas Kapsas, one of the pen names ofVincas Kudirka, founder ofVarpas.[2][3]
In 1900, Mickevičius was admitted toJelgava Gymnasium. In 1901, he was expelled for storing illegal Lithuanian press and belonging to yet another Lithuanian book smuggling society,Kūdikis. A secret police search at his home produced a large amount of illegal Lithuanian literature. Mickevičius was indicted in a political case for anti-tsarist activities. To avoid arrest, he escaped via East Prussia to Switzerland.
From 1901 to 1903, Mickevičius studied philosophy, sociology, and political economy at theUniversity of Bern in Switzerland. Around the same time (1902–1903), he became a co-editor ofVarpas and the editor ofŪkininkas inTilsit. During his stay in Tilsit, Mickevičius gained access to the Printing House archives and published historic materials from theAuszra days, and materials pertaining to the founding ofVarpas.[1] In 1902, the Varpininkai Congress founded theLithuanian Democratic Party (LDP). Mickevičius became one of its first members.
By 1903, Mickevičius felt that the LDP did not go far enough in its political goals. The LDP sought autonomy within Russia as opposed to full independence. They also did not adequately address social issues. In 1903, he left the LDP and joined theLithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP). Mickevičius was not willing to sever his ties with the Varpininkai, however, and clashed with LSDP leadership (Augustinas Janulaitis), who did not want to cooperate with the Varpininkai.[4] To bridge the gap between the LSDP and the Varpininkai, he founded the social-patriotic organization Draugas in 1904, although he still technically remained a member of the LSDP. After prolonged negotiations, in 1905, Draugas merged with the LSDP, and Mickevičius was elected a member of the Central Committee of the LSDP.[4] He at that time belonged to the federalist wing of the LSDP, which promoted the idea of an independent Lithuania in a federation with Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Latvia (former territories of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). Russia was not part of their designs.[4][5] The federalists fought with the autonomist wing of the LSDP, who promoted Lithuanian autonomy within Russia.
Around the same time (1904–1906), Mickevičius founded and edited magazinesDraugas andDarbininkas. From 1906 to 1907, he also contributed to and editedNaujoji Gadynė andSkardas.
During theRevolution of 1905, Mickevičius organized anti-tsarist peasant demonstrations and strikes inSuvalkija and northern Lithuania. Mickevičius was briefly detained by authorities but, with no evidence against him, he managed to talk his way out. In December 1905, he was arrested under the name of J. Jaks-Tyris and convicted of revolutionary activities, but managed to escape from a prison hospital inSuwałki in 1906. He was arrested again in May 1907 and sentenced to 3 years for anti-tsarist activities. Among his defenders in the Suwałki court were attorneysAlexander Kerensky, who, after the 1917 February revolution, was the head of Russian government, and M. F. Volkenstein, who employed V. Ulyanov (Lenin) back in 1893.[4] In 1909, after authorities discovered that Mickevičius was the same person who escaped from prison in 1906, he was sentenced to an additional 8 years ofkatorga. He did his time in theVilnius, Suwałki,Warsaw, andVladimir Prisons until 1913. In 1913, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of theRomanov Dynasty, TsarNicholas II decreed the amnesty for certain non-violent prisoners. Mickevičius, as a political prisoner of non-violent nature, was released from prison and exiled to theYenisei region inSiberia.[4]
In December 1913, Mickevičius escaped from the exile with fake documents. For several weeks in early 1914, he was in hiding in Latvia and Lithuania (count Nikolai Zubov offered him a hiding place in his Medemrodė estate, now inAgluonai village). There, he prepared for his emigration, and was authorized byMykolas Biržiška to act abroad on behalf of the LSDP. With the help of local activists, Mickevičius crossed the border to Prussia and traveled to Austria with fake documents. In 1914, inKraków, then part of the AustrianGrand Duchy of Cracow, he metVladimir Lenin, the leader of theBolshevik faction of theRussian Social Democratic Labour Party.[1][4] In 1914, Mickevičius became a member ofVilnis editorial staff. He stayed in Kraków until the beginning of World War I, and then emigrated through Switzerland to Great Britain.
From 1914 to 1916, he lived in Great Britain. Mickevičius headed the LSDP chapter in Scotland. In 1915–1916, he editedSocialdemokratas andRankpelnis inBellshill, Scotland.[5] In 1916, he left Great Britain for the United States, where he lived until 1917. He joined the American Lithuanian Socialist Union (ALSU) and took over management of all major left press.[6] He edited left wing science and literature monthly magazineNaujoji Gadynė in Philadelphia and newspaperKova.[1]
In 1917, after the RussianFebruary Revolution, Mickevičius was no longer a fugitive. He arrived from the United States toPetrograd and joined theRussian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolshevik) (RSDLP(b)). He became the editor of Lithuanian socialist (later communist) newspaperTiesa. In August 1917, he participated in the6th congress of RSDLP(b) in Petrograd and supported the creation of theCommunist International (Comintern). After theOctober Revolution, Mickevičius served as the Commissar of the Soviet government for Lithuanian affairs, and was a member of theCentral Bureau of the Lithuanian Sections under theCentral Committee of the RSDLP(b), and then of theRussian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (RCP(b)).
In late 1918, Mickevičius returned to Lithuania (then still occupied by Germany; seeOber Ost). Lithuania was contested by many as besides theCouncil of Lithuania that proclaimedindependence on 16 February 1918, there were German, Polish, and Soviet forces. Expecting an occupation by the Soviet Red Army, pro-Communist groups such as the Lithuanian Social Democrats, Bolsheviks,Jewish Bundists,Socialist Revolutionaries, and more, began actively organizing inVilnius and other Lithuanian towns.
In early October, the founding congress of theCommunist Party of Lithuania took place in Vilnius. In December, elections were held for theVilnius Soviet of Workers' Deputies, electing 96 communists, and their non-affiliated sympathizers, 60 Bund members, 22Mensheviks, and 15 LSDP members (social democrats).[7] On 8 December, the Vilnius Soviet formed the Provisional Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Government of Lithuania. Mickevičius was elected the new government's chairman (Prime Minister) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 16 December, the Mickevičius government issued a manifesto, in which they dismissed German occupational administration and proclaimed theLithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.[5][8]
German occupying forces were still stationed in Vilnius, but started leaving in late December 1918, while theRed Armyattacked westward trying to seize as many of the lands lost by theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk. On 2 January 1919, the Polish Committee forces (Self-Defence of Lithuania and Belarus) took control over Vilnius.[5][7] The Council of Lithuania withdrew toKaunas the same day. The Red Army entered Vilnius on 5 January, and the Mickevičius government reestablished its control.
On 27 February 1919, the Lithuanian SSR andSocialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (created on 1 January) were merged and theSocialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (Litbel) was formed. Mickevičius served as the chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Litbel government. Poland pushed back against the Red Army in thePolish–Soviet War, while the newly-establishedLithuanian Army was liberating previously Communist-occupied parts of Lithuania, so that by August 1919, almost all of Lithuania and Belarus was freed from the Soviets. In July 1920, theSoviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty was concluded, and the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic ceased to exist.
The support for Mickevičius' government mostly came from the cityproletariat and farm laborers. Lithuanian farmers mostly supported the Council of Lithuania, who promised land to those who cultivate it. In an agrarian country, as Lithuania was at that time, farmers' support was essential. Understanding his limited support base, Mickevičius resisted Lenin's demands to recruit more Lithuanians to the Red Army and reported to Lenin that such an effort would be counter-productive and would reduce Lithuanian support for his government.[9]
From late 1921 until the end of his life in 1935, Mickevičius lived inMoscow. He was a delegate to theSecond through Sixth Congresses of theComintern. Working on the executive committee of the Comintern from 1923 to 1935, he became a candidate member of the executive committee of the Comintern in 1924, and a member in 1928.[8] Kapsukas was a delegate to theEleventh,Twelfth, andFourteenth throughSeventeenth RCP(b) Congresses. He was elected a candidate member of theCentral Committee of the RCP(b) at theEighth Congress (1919).[8]
From 1921 until 1935, Mickevičius was on the editorial board of Lithuanian communist periodicalsTiesa,Kibirkstis,Balsas,Komunaras, andKomunistas.
Kapsukas died on 17 February 1935 in a hospital in Moscow. The official report listed the cause of death as the complications fromtuberculosis. His wife, Elena Domicėlė Tautkaitė, was executed in 1937 for "Trotskyist activities", and their three children were adopted and taken home by their maternal aunt.
Mickevičius is a case study of gradual drift from social-patriotic nationalist toMarxistinternationalist. His early views were greatly influenced by his patriotic family and by theLithuanian National Revival. The leaders of this movement came mostly from emancipated peasants. Their Lithuanian origin and relatively weakPolonization were responsible for the nationalist character of this movement, while their peasant roots shaped the social program. Many social ideas were carried over from theJanuary Uprising of 1863. Therefore, many future social democrats belonged to the Lithuanian National Revival.Vincas Kudirka was a member of theProletariat Party and was arrested when he was helping re-print Marx'sDas Kapital, and Mickevičius called himself a social-patriot.[4]
During the 1905 revolution, Mickevičius dedicated all his energy to fighting for a free Lithuania. He already saw the freedom of Lithuania through the glasses of social justice. To him, social justice, human dignity, and individual freedom were more important than national independence.[4] According to writerOna Pleirytė-Puidienė [lt], a witness of the 1905 revolution,[10]
Kapsukas was literally the social democratic party's and Lithuanian idea's martyr. Always breathless, hungry, without real shelter he travelled across Lithuania spreading national awareness and enlightenment. Of course, social democratic voices mattered most to him, but he also passionately loved his Lithuania.
During his prison years (1907–1914), Mickevičius read works ofMarx,Kautsky,Plekhanov and other Marxists, and his views drifted profoundly toward Marxism. Later in exile and emigration, he metYakov Sverdlov,Vladimir Lenin,Nikolai Bukharin, andLeon Trotsky, who also influenced his views. By 1918, he considered himself a Marxist. However, until his last days, Mickevičius venerated his mentorVincas Kudirka and retained deep respect forPovilas Višinskis. According toJuozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, Bolsheviks knew that, for him, Lithuania mattered more than narrow party directives:[3]
The same [attitude] could be noticed through his entire communist activities in Vilnius: he cared about Lithuania not in a communist way. Everybody felt that, even his fellow Bolsheviks.
His father, Simonas (Simas) Mickevičius (1830–1915), was a wealthy farmer. From his first marriage to Barbora Kriaučiūnaitė (c. 1840–1870), Simonas had a daughter, Konstancija Mickevičiūtė. With Ona Kuršėnaitė (c. 1850–1934), his second wife, Simonas had two sons: Juozapas (1872–1950) and Vincas.
Vincas Mickevičius married Vanda Didžiulytė (1881–1941) in 1901 inMintauja (now Jelgava, Latvia). They divorced in 1913 after the death of their daughter Vanda. He married Elena Domicėlė Tautkaitė (1893–1937) in 1922 in Moscow, Russia. They had three children: Jūra Mickevičiūtė (1921–2008), Vincas Mickevičius (1925–2014), and Lena Mickevičiūtė (1927–2001).
Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas was the author of more than 50 works on politics, history, philosophy, and literature, and around 2000 articles.[8] He also wrote memoirs, essays, and short stories.[citation needed]
Between 1937 and 1953, Mickevičius was on Stalin's "gray list," not officially an "enemy of state," but not to be mentioned in public. After Stalin's death in 1953, the communist government of Lithuania, especially the first secretary of theLithuanian Communist Party,Antanas Sniečkus, started reviving the memory of Mickevičius. Gradually, the commemoration of Mickevičius' legacy grew to the point of idolization. Streets, squares, museums, and ships were named after him, and several monuments were erected.[citation needed]
Ta pat galėjai pasergėti per visą jo komunistišką veikimą Vilniuje: jam Lietuva ne komunistiškai rūpėjo. Tai visi jautė, net jo sėbrai bolševikai.
Kapsukas buvo stačiai socialdemokratų partijos ir lietuvių idėjos kankinys. Visuomet uždusęs, alkanas, be tikros pastogės slankiojo jis po Lietuvą nešiodamas tautinį supratimą ir šviesą. Be abejo socialdemokratų balsai jam rupejo labiausiai, bet ir savo Lietuvą jis mylėjo karštai
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